£2k fine for trainer over horse mix-up

FOUR opportunities were missed to spot that the wrong horses ran in two races at Southwell last month, a BHA disciplinary panel has been told. Trainer Ivan Furtado was fined £2,000 after the initial error was traced to a mix-up in his stable shortly after African Trader, who finished seventh, and Scribner Creek, who was third, arrived in a batch of seven horses sent to him by a new owner. But the BHA’s procedures were criticised by panel chairman HH James O’Mahony, who said: ‘This was a comedy of errors. The public is entitled to know the right horses run in the right races.’ The error was only picked up when a routine urine test on Scribner Creek was checked by the BHA the following day and head of regulation Tim Naylor conceded there had been a ‘number of procedural failings’. Despite BHA regulations stating first-time runners for a stable should be particularly scrutinised, the mix-up was not spotted when the two horses arrived at Southwell, nor when they were taken to the paddock, despite having their identifying microchips scanned. Despite African Trader having a distinguishing white star on his forehead, the mix-up was also not picked up at a veterinary check, nor when the urine sampling took place.